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Ctenoplusia
sigillata Dufay
Acanthoplusia sigillata Dufay,
1970: 105.
Plusia confusa Moore, sensu Holloway, 1976: 32. P.
confusa Moore is a junior primary
homonym of P. confusa Stephens; tarassota
Hampson is the next available name.
Diagnosis. This is one of the largest Bornean plusiines. It has a rather speckly
brown forewing and a diagnostically entire, diffuse, paler band distally
adjacent to the postmedial.
Taxonomic notes. Dufay (1970) placed this and related species in a new genus, Acanthoplusia,
most species having blade-like setae on the ventral margin of the valve,
itself centrally constricted, and a pouch with small dark scales subbasally on
the exterior of the valve. He included mainland Oriental species such as agnata
Staudinger (China, Japan), ichinosei Dufay (Japan), and tarassota Hampson
(N.E. Himalaya; Java, Bali), a Sundanian species, vermiculata Dufay
(Sumatra; his Javan paratype may be tarassota), and two more easterly
taxa, latistigma Prout (Ceram) and eugraphe Hampson (New Guinea).
The ornamentation of the aedeagus vesica of tarassota, sigillata and latistigma
is very similar except the central ‘comb’ of cornuti is not based on a
sclerotised band in latistigma. In eugraphe this ‘comb’ is
absent and there are two elongate subbasal zones of spines running parallel to
each other. C. sigillata differs from tarassota in the more finely
speckled appearance of the forewings, and the more heavily sclerotised bursa and
ductus in the female genitalia; the appendix bursae is more prominent.
C. vermiculata Dufay differs from the rest of the group in the lack of setal blades at
the ventral edge of the valve. In forewing facies and other genitalia characters
it conforms with the rest of the group. Compared with Javan tarassota the
valve apical half is narrower and there are differences in the harpe and clavus;
the aedeagus vesica has similar ornamentation though the distal and basal
patches of scobination have much shorter spines, and those on the central
‘comb’ are more strongly curved.
These Acanthoplusia species are here placed in Ctenoplusia by
virtue of sharing the setal blades of the ventral margin of the male valve.
Therefore Acanthoplusia Dufay sinks to Ctenoplusia Dufay,
(Ichinose, 1973).
Geographical range. Philippines (Luzon), Borneo.
Habitat preference. The species was taken in numbers on G. Kinabalu from
1200m to 2600m, being commoner at 2000m and above. During the Mulu survey a
single specimen was taken at the summit of G. Mulu (2360m). This is the only
definitely strictly montane plusiine in Borneo, though two other species have
only been taken at altitude.
Biology. C. ichinosei has been recorded as feeding as a larva on Arctium
(Compositae) and Panax (Araliaceae) by Miyata (1983).
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